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Show 22 Thursday, Hilltop Times May 15, 1997 Commissaries increase lead as Military shoppers have placed the commissaries at the top of their list for the second consecutive year. They ranked commissaries as the most important benefit in the 1996 Customer Service Evaluation System survey of stores shoppers worldwide. "In fact," said Bill Reade, chief of analysis and evaluation for the Defense Commissary Agency, "the percentage of people who named the commissary as their number one benefit increased from 48 percent in 1995 to 54 " Customers expect low prices, so we really go the extra mile to get a high score there. " percent in 1996." Medical is next in line, rated as number one by 38 percent, down from 44 percent in 1995. Exchanges, Morale, Welfare and Recreational activities, dental, education and libraries were far down the list. Only three percent picked exchanges as their top benefit. "Medical has been cut so the perception may be that it's not as valuable," said Reade, "while the commissaries keep improving." The DeCA CSES survey was administered Sept. 23 Oct. 4, in all commissaries. Customers were asked at random to fill out the survey while waiting to check out. The surveys were handed out at different times of the day to get a more accurate overall picture. Reade said customers were not required to participate, but stores gave out 40,130 surveys and nearly 36,000 were returned. "The return rate was excellent," said Reade, "about 90 percent." Results from the last two CSES surveys are unprecedented as previous surveys, as recent as 1992, have always ranked medical as the number one benefit. The 1996 results also come at a time when Army Times Publishing Company is releasing its own commissary survey, indicating that 86 percent of the respondents rank the commissaries as either "the most important" or "one of the most important" military benefits. Only four percent said the commissaries were "not that important" to them. More than 5,500 people participated in the Army Times survey, taken in February and early March. The survey was not random and was limited to people who purchased a 'Times" publication or visited its web -- site. The majority, 70 percent, said they saved between 20 percent by shopping in the commissary. and 30 1 Steve Randal, Chief Quality Improvement Approximately 40 percent of the 'Times" respondents were active duty military or spouses. DeCA's CSES survey drew similar demographics with 47.5 percent active duty and 43.8 percent retirees responding. The overall index score for DeCA's 308 stores was 87.6 in the CSES survey, said Reade, an improvement over a score of 87.2 in 1995. The index derives from a complex formula that measures improvements in customer service. Survey results as well as commissary data collected over the course of the year weight into the formula. According to Steve Randol, DeCA's chief of quality improvement, the formula is also weighted according to factors that influence customers the most. "Customers expect low prices, so we really have to go the extra mile to get a high score there," he said. "But if they encounter a rude employee, it may affect their entire shopping experience. They won't care if the prices are great, they just know they were treated Fortunately, most shoppers have had good experiences. They ranked courteous and helpful employees at the top of the list of 18 items, along with cost savings and value of the benefit. The index score for customer service was 4.44 with five being the highest possible score. This result is also in keeping with DeCA's recognition by the National Performance Review as a customer service model in the federal government. DeCA figures prominently in an upcoming NPR report to Vice President Al Gore highlighting customer service role models in the government and private sector. 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